The same tea leaf can be processed in basically two different ways. The leaf can be manipulated in such a manner as to retain more if not all of its natural shape. During this manufacture, small pieces may break off or at some point the whole leaves may be intentionally broken. This is the way tea has been made for centuries and is known as the Orthodox method. Alternatively, the leaf may be intentionally shredded in specialized machines where the leaves are Cut, Torn and Curled (CTC). This process is of relatively recent creation and is designed to be more brewed cups of tea per weight of leaf than Orthodox usually provide. The resulting smaller particles usually yield a stronger infusion with potentially shorter infusion times and cooler water temperatures.

In this Cupping Event, 10 pairs of teas were evaluated. Each pair contained one Orthodox and one CTC tea from the same factory. One pair was from Kenya, one from Assam, India, one from Sri Lanka, one from Yunnan, China and one from Anhui, China which, unlike the other pairs was green tea. Cuppers follows modified professional cupping procedures and recorded their impressions and comments. Professional cupping procedure calls for intentionally stronger concentrations so as to detect more elements in the flavor. After making their comments on the full strength infusions, Cuppers were also encouraged to prepare the samples at a more pleasurable strength though these comments were not required to be recorded. Further, many Cuppers re-infused the samples and noted the differences from the first steeping. Week 1 included the Kenya and Assam teas. Following are the Cuppers comments with preference rankings on the four attributes of dry leaf appearance and aroma and infused aroma and taste.

Flavor:- Strong and astringent (expected). Cooked raisins like toasted raisin bread. Strong nutty element. Some creamy rich notes linger in the finish.
- Thin. Unremarkable. Bitter at first. The flavor comes later but is still rather flat.
- FULL ASTRINGENT AND BOLD, TOASTED MALTY NOTES
- Sour grapefruit flavor that hinges on bitter. Puckery mouthfeel.
- Astringent, Deep, Full (A Milk & Sugar Tea)
- floral but not pleasant, brisk, bold, astringent, a bit burnt, dry aftertaste lingers
- It tasted malty on the roof of my mouth, but also astringent with a lingering bitterness on the back of my tongue
- Very astringent, rich and somewhat bitter
- sharp and brisk but not unpleasant, some chocolate and malt notes, not nearly as astringent as I had feared it might be. Seems very balanced.
- sweet, bready, dried fruit, some vanilla, astringent
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Comments:
- Not very well balanced. Strong taste with lots of character. Nutty note is nice though astringency is too strong in 1st infusion. In 2nd infusion, the nutty notes remain. Taste is not as astringent. Hints of sweetness come through.
- Noticing the age of the plants and the time since last pruning, I wondered if that made a difference in the flavor. Considering the fact that there are more harvests in the climate
- almost constant plucking
- I'm not sure this would make a difference. But I have heard that aggressive pruning stimulates the plant.
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- While the aroma of the dry and infused leaf is pleasant, the bitter, sour flavor is not. It has a puckery mouthfeel with a drying effect.
- Will stand up well to Milk and Sugar
- 2nd steeping - less aftertaste, less astringent. It was an in your face tea without a good taste. I didn't like it.
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- The high astringency and bitterness might be due to the amount of tea used in the infusion since CTC is meant to extract more color and flavor quicker.
- Temp: 180 F | Altitude: almost 6,000 ft. Water boils at a lower temperature
- Overall, this was a pleasing CTC. I think it would do well in conditions where you don't have control over water temperature like when going out to eat. I'd pick this up to keep in DIY tea bags to take with me places.
- for "Leaf appearance" the ranking is relying on a comparison between all types of tea (orthdox and ctc) or in comparing only CTC samples ?
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Rank: Combined scores for all Cuppers. Cuppers were asked to score the sample based on four criteria. The chart below shows the overall ranking of each attribute. The rank range was 1 to 5 with one indicating most appealing and 5 indicating least appealing. A higher number indicates more Cuppers agreed on the same ranking.

Wet Leaf Appearance:
- Large choppy pieces. Some green tint in the otherwise dark brown leaves. Still fairly uniform size. Fully opened.
- Reddish-brown. A lot of stem. Most of the leaf remained closed
- did not open out.
- UNFURLED LEAF RED BROWN COLOR
- Copper, slightly iridescent unfurled cut leaves. Lots of mid-veins present.
- Bright, Broken, Uneven
- light brown, leathery, small leaves, stems and half leaves
- The infused leaves were brown and looked to be torn. The stems became more prominent when wet.
- Bright and uniform leaf, open leaf, sign of a good steep in terms of time and temperature
- colors vary when wet from red, to brown to olive. Very pretty
- nice dark brown pieces
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Flavor:- Milder than sample 001. Not as complex. More subtle but still some hints of spice. Earthy notes but less sweet. Some floral notes. Clean and clear. Some astringency in the finish.
- Dry mouthfeel, slight bitterness in the beginning – after taste is smoother and lingers Still thin. Lack of complexity might make this good for a heavily blended tea where other flavors need to dominate. Unlike my CTC sample cupping, this brew remained clear.
- SOFT, FLORAL AND SWEET, SMOOTH MOUTH FEEL
- Weak, dull flavor with slight astringency.
- Malty, Sweet, Toasty, Lingering
- smooth, weak but pleasant compared to CTC #1, slightly dry aftertaste
- Fairly weak, caramel flavour, mellow with a sweetness at the back of my mouth
- Full bodied, deep flavor and low astringency
- Surprising floral notes and very mild. Apricot as well. Smooth and pleasing.
- sweet, cake, dried fruit, vanilla a little bit astringent
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Comments: - This tea had a noticeable pasty taste. Perhaps some taint by packaging or foreign element? Plain without much character. Over all, a plain but drinkable tea. Pasty taint was distracting. Generally well balanced though no outstanding features. Nice, smooth finish.
- What a great example of the difference between a super-fine CTC where flavor and color are quickly infused but whole leaf brings out more character in the flavor and a better color in the liquor. I was surprised that there was such a difference in the cloudiness as the tea cooled. Very interesting.
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- This would be a very easy tea to drink without additives - sugar and cream would overpower it. The flavor is very mild, but also very dull.
- Stays too long on the palate
- 2nd steeping - leaves opened more, hint of vegetal, slightly musty, little to no flavor. Enjoyed this tea. Hard to believe #1 and #2 are the same leaves, same everything, except one is CTC and the orthodox process.
- This is my second preference out of the first for samples. I thought that the dry leaf aroma was very light without much depth, and the liquor quite weak compared with the CTC method
- Temp: 180 F | Altitude: almost 6,000 ft. Water boils at a lower temperature
- While the dry leaves were unimpressive to look at, the infused leaves were lovely in their variation. Surprised by how mild the liquor was given the dry and wet leaf scent.
- I found the flavor quite similar between CTC and orthodox, but the orthodox is more complex, richer and longer in mouth
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Rank: Combined scores for all Cuppers. Cuppers were asked to score the sample based on four criteria. The chart below shows the overall ranking of each attribute. The rank range was 1 to 5 with one indicating most appealing and 5 indicating least appealing. A higher number indicates more Cuppers agreed on the same ranking.

Comments:
- Rich and malty over all but too highly fired. Slightly burnt taste, especially in the 1st infusion. 2nd infusion balances out a bit but musty note remains and detracts.
- Clouded when it cooled.
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- The bold flavor grabs your taste buds, starts off astringent but finishes smooth. Mouth drying.
- Somewhat non-descript though terroir was present
- Preferred this to Kenya #1 CTC, but also remembered I always prefer orthodox over CTC. This tea was average, but #4 orthodox was much better.
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- The level of astringency and bitterness is lower compared to sample 001. Logic behavior, the larger the speck, the smaller the surface area
- This tastes like it was stored badly.
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Rank: Combined scores for all Cuppers. Cuppers were asked to score the sample based on four criteria. The chart below shows the overall ranking of each attribute. The rank range was 1 to 5 with one indicating most appealing and 5 indicating least appealing. A higher number indicates more Cuppers agreed on the same ranking.

Wet Leaf Appearance:
- Dark brown, large choppy leaves. Not fully opened. Some luster to the leaves. Very faint green tint.
- Leaves open quickly and some nice variation of light and dark is apparent. More tightly rolled leaves do not open but some pieces do. A sheen on the leaf even as it dries.
- UNFURLED LEAF WITH BROWN, RED AND GREEN NOTES
- Copper / Broken leaves / Lots of mid-vein
- vibrant, twisted, uneven
- some full small leaves and larger leaf pieces
- Dark brown, bright leaves. When wet, the leaves seem to be less even in shape and torn.
- Mustard seed-like color, mixed sizes. Tight, twisted and unevenly open.
- the leaves opened up and seemed to be small broken leaf fragments of a uniform color
- long pieces
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Comments:
- Generally a nice tea. Well made. Some noticeable fruity characters make it interesting while the musty notes dive depth (though less desirable). Finish is winey with some lingering but acceptable astringency. 2nd infusion was smooth and a bit fruity with some nutty notes. Still earthy and musty.
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- Smooth, malty flavor glides over the palate - no trace of astringency or bitterness.
- disappointed
- Really enjoyed this tea. I would use 3 grams and sometimes a little honey. Not as big a difference in taste for CTC and orthodox as there was for #1 and #2.
- Of all the first four samples, this is my number one preference.
- Logically this tea tastes much like a black but it drinks like a green. It has asparagus/vegetal notes, uncommon in black tea
- This was an average tea for me. I would not seek it out for purchase.
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Rank: Combined scores for all Cuppers. Cuppers were asked to score the sample based on four criteria. The chart below shows the overall ranking of each attribute. The rank range was 1 to 5 with one indicating most appealing and 5 indicating least appealing. A higher number indicates more Cuppers agreed on the same ranking.